


Consequences

by Geok



Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Family Bonding, Gen, Oneshot, Original Character - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:49:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25768459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Geok/pseuds/Geok
Summary: Actions have consequeses.Frankie Cullen ran away from her family three years ago after a fatal mistake. Now she's back, but is she ready to be forgiven?Oneshot. OC. Canon Pairings.
Kudos: 3





	Consequences

I slowed down, finally noticing the familiar smell that surrounded me. I hadn’t realised where I was running, not really. I knew I’d return soon. I didn’t realise it’d be now. I’d run out of excuses to stay away though. My control was undeniably improved; it was only my guilt and fear holding me back now. 

I pushed forwards, continuing towards thinning of the forest south of me. 

They were already waiting by the time I reached the house. Not all them, only Esme, Alice, and Rosalie. I wondered if the others were out, or if they’d just decided they didn’t want to see me. 

I’d barely made it up to the house before Esme ran to meet me. 

“Frankie!” She cried with an unmistakable ring of joy to her voice. 

She threw her arms around me, kissing the top of my head.

“You’re back.” She pulled back just enough to look at me, “Don’t leave again.” She half ordered, half plead.

My throat felt thick with emotion. 

“I won’t, mom.” Was all I could say. 

As soon as I was released by Esme Alice swooped in, pulling me in to a tight hug. 

“I didn’t see you coming,” She said, confused. “But I am glad you’re here. We’ve missed you so much Frankie.” 

She stepped back and before I could react, she hit my shoulder. Hard. 

“Hey!” I complained, hopping back out of her reach. 

“That’s for not returning our calls!” 

I winced, looking down. Yeah, I guess I deserved that. Esme wrapped her arm around my shoulder protectively. “Alice…” She said, disapprovingly. 

“Hey Rose,” I greeted nervously, looking up at my sister. 

“You’re a selfish brat.” Rosalie said, stalking off away from the house. 

“Rose wait! I’m sorry-“ 

“Give her a moment, honey,” Esme murmured rubbing my arm. “She was worried about you.”

“We all were.” Alice added, sounding vaguely scolding. 

“Where’s everyone else?” I asked, changing the subject away from my past decisions.  
“Edward, Emmett and Jasper are hunting; they aren’t due back till Monday. Carlisles’ at work.” She paused, “He’s about to leave and will be back in… 23 minutes.” Alice said confidently. 

Shit. That didn’t give me much time to prepare. I was terrified of his judgement, but equally terrified of his forgiveness. 

“We’ll call the boys back though of course,” Esme babbled, “I’m sure they’ll come straight back once we tell them you’re home.”

“No! No, that’s really not necessary. They may as well enjoy their hunt. Besides ” I paused, looking down, “They may not be all that happy with me right now.” 

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Alice danced ahead of us. “Of course we’re going to call them and of course they’ll be thrilled to see you.” 

I scoffed lightly. 

“Hey! I’m not lying. Rosalies’ happy you back too, and she’ll realise that herself soon enough.” Alice spoke with almost enough confidence to make me believe her. Almost.

“It’s all going to work out.” Esme soothed, giving me a gently squeeze. 

“Go in and get washed up, I’ll dig some clothes out and you’ll be fully presentable by the time Carlisle gets back. Okay?” 

I nodded. Sometimes there was just no point in arguing with Alice. 

Esme seemed reluctant to let go of me as we entered the house, but she eventually released me with a quick hug. 

I tried to relax as I showered, washing off the years’ worth of grime that had built up. I hadn’t changed my clothes in about 2 years, and hadn’t showered since I left my family almost 3 years ago. 

I’d left shortly after the accident. That was what Carlisle used to refer to it as. As if my lack of ill intent made me any less guilty, or the two boys any less dead. 

Guilt burned through me as I washed the grime out of my hair. I ended up washing it twice, just to be sure the mud and seawater were fully rinsed away before turning the water off and stepping out. 

Alice had left me a neat stack of clothes to change into. All of them were new, but also all in my size. I wasn’t sure what to make of the fact that Alice had kept up worth buying me new clothes in my absence. Mostly, it just made me feel bad. She’d never given up hope that I’d return, even though there were many times that I’d more than given up on myself.

I towel dried my hair roughly, before pulling it back into a messy bun. I could hear a car coming down the driveway. Carlisle was home. I was once again surprised at how terrified this reunion was making me. Would he be furious at me for disappearing for so long? I know how hurt he was when Edward left, it made my leaving seem more unforgivable somehow. Carlisle didn’t really do furious though, he was too good. No, what Carlisle did was disappointment. It was somehow much, much worse. 

By the time I’d slowly walked down the stairs, Carlisle was already there with Alice and Esme. He looked up at me as I approached and rushed forwards, wrapping his arms tightly around me.

“I’m so sorry.” I chocked out, returning his hug.

I was sorry. Sorry for messing up, sorry for leaving, for not calling. My list of screw ups felt endless. 

“Hush now,” He said softly, “You’re here now, that’s all that matters.” 

I closed my eyes, resting my head forwards onto his shoulder. Finally, he pulled back slightly, looking at me closely. 

“You look thirsty.” He commented. 

My throat itched with his reminder, I was thirsty. I hadn’t hunted in almost a month so my eyes were probably pitch black. “How long till the others are back?” Carlisle asked, looking to Alice. 

“Three hours.” She said confidently. “Emmett will talk to Rosalie on his way through, he’ll be able to bring her back.” 

“Let’s go now then, that way we’ll beat them back.” Carlisle said. 

“Yeah, okay.” I agreed, still nervous about reuniting with the rest of my family. 

“I’ll come too.” Esme insisted, taking hold of my arm once again. Her eyes were a dark topaz, so she wasn’t particularly thirsty. I suspected her desire to come was more about not wanting to leave me than her wanting to feed. 

“And I’ll wait here.” Alice chirped brightly, “Everyone else will be back by 9, if you head north you’ll find a herd of deer and make it home at the same time they do.” She jumped forwards to kiss my cheek. “Be good.” She half requested, half warned. 

“I will.” I muttered, allowing Esme to lead me out the door. 

Hunting didn’t take long at all. As Alice had promised, we stumbled across a herd of deer pretty quickly. I took down two bucks, draining them neatly. I hid the carcasses as Carlisle and Esme finished their hunt. 

“You still look thirsty, are you sure you don’t want another?” Esme asked as she came over. 

“Yeah, I’m sure.” I guess the prolonged period of not feeding had left me thirstier than I’d realised. 

“We have time,” Carlisle interjected lightly, “See, there’s another herd just east of here.” 

His eyes were a light shade of honey gold. 

If Carlisle doesn’t lose his control through regular feeding, there’s no reason you should.

I hesitated, unsure of what to do. I’d gained a lot of control over the last three years, my brutal method of challenging myself had worked- or at least mostly worked. Part of me was terrified that if I went back to my old routine of feeding whenever I was thirsty I would lose some of the resistance I’d built up over the years. 

I shook my head, then nodded. “I don’t want anymore.” I insisted finally.

Carlisle and Esme shared a look but didn’t press the issue. 

“Okay then, shall we head back?” Carlisle asked.

“Okay, yeah.” I knew if I had a working heart, it would be thudding in my chest right about now. I wondered how angry my brothers would be at me. Or if they’d understand my reasons for leaving, my reasons for not calling. 

Alice came up to meet us as we reached the house. “The others will be back in 2 minutes; you’ll hear them in a second.” 

As usual she was right, I could hear four pairs of feet approaching from the east. 

“Come, let’s wait at the table for them.” Esme murmured, wrapping her arm around my shoulder to lead me into the house. 

I sat between Carlisle and Esme, waiting nervously. I heard the others enter the house, and held my breath as they walked to us. 

Emmett was the first to enter, as soon as he saw me his face split into a large grin. “Come here and give me a hug.” 

He didn’t wait for me to reach him before sweeping me up in his large arms. My feet were barely touching the floor and I almost laughed as he swayed me back and forth. “I’m glad you’re back.” He said, giving me one final squeeze before releasing me. He retreated to stand by Rosalie, who was silent as she watched me from the doorway. 

I looked down, feeling ashamed. She was right to feel so angry with me. I should’ve been stronger, I should’ve called.

Jasper send a small wave of happiness and relief towards me. His way of letting me know he’s happy I’m back. I smiled gratefully at him and he pulled me into a tight hug, kissing the top of my head. “It’s good to see you again, little sister.” He said, before going to sit beside Alice at the table. 

Edward ruffled my hair, giving me an encouraging smile that was free of judgment before taking his seat at the table. I sat back down between my parents as Emmett pulled Rosalie to sit next to him. 

“I, um… I guess I owe you all an explanation.” I started slowly. 

Rosalie snorted, causing me to wince and look down. 

“I’m sorry,” I said, powering on, this was not the time to wallow in my guilt. “I hadn’t intended on leaving for so long… Or stopping my calls to you...” I trailed off, unsure how to continue. 

“Why don’t you just start from the beginning.” Carlisle prompted gently. 

“The beginning, yeah…” I muttered, organising my thoughts. “After… Well after, the acciendent, I needed some… space.” I cringed, none of it was coming out right. I felt my confidence rise gradually and shot a grateful smile at Jasper. 

“After I killed those kids I needed to do something. I know it was an accident and I didn’t mean to, but they’re still dead. I needed to know I’d never make the same mistake again, and until I was sure of that, I didn’t think it right for me to be around humans. ” 

“That’s great, but you said all of that before you left. None of it justifies the three-year radio silence.” Rosalie snipped. Emmett rubbed her hand comfortingly. 

“She’s got a point, Franks.” He said gently. “You could’ve called.” 

“I know,” I muttered looking down. “The first few months without you all was… hard-” Understatement of the year. “-and I was… Struggling, struggling to stay away I mean. Every time I called, or heard your voices I wanted more than anything to just come home or to give up. But I couldn’t.” I looked around the table at my family, pleading them to understand. “I couldn’t live with myself if I just returned as if nothing had changed. I left so I could get better, so I could make sure I never hurt someone again. If I came home a year later, no better, then nothing will have changed.” 

“That still doesn’t explain why you never called, never emailed.” Rosalie said sharply, “you could’ve been dead for all we knew.” She hissed. 

“I’m sorry.” I whispered. “I couldn’t call Rose, after I told you I wasn’t going to be in touch anymore I moved. I was nowhere near civilisation; I didn’t have a phone or anything.” 

“Where were you?” Emmett asked.

I hesitated, “I’m not sure really… I spent the first year mostly as far away from people as I could get, I thought if I challenged my thirst then maybe my control would improve…” I though back to the first few months, sat in a cave filled with water, at first only aware of the pressure and darkness from being so deep underwater. After a few weeks, the thirst became more pressing, then eventually near enough unbearable. 

“You tried to starve yourself.” Edward said flatly. 

“Frankie!” Esme said, sounding aghast as she tightened her grip on my arm. 

“No! That’s not what I was doing.” Thanks a lot, Edward. “I wasn’t trying to hurt myself, I promise. I knew that we could survive it, I mean, Carlisle went much longer without hunting that I did.” I said, gesturing to my father. 

“How long did you go?” Carlisle asked, his voice unreasonable. 

“A couple of months I think… It was hard to keep track of time. I just wanted to push myself as far as I could. I thought maybe… maybe your prolonged thirst was part of what made you better at resisting.” 

Carlisle sighed, looking thoughtful. “I don’t think that’s how it works.” He said finally. 

“So that’s why you didn’t call.” Rosalie said flatly, “Because you were busy starving yourself in Antarctica.” 

“Not Antarctica, I was underwater somewhere. I’d go a few months without feeding then eat a whale or something. Last year I started trying to expose myself to human blood, I stole some from a blood bank.” I shrugged, “It was rough, really rough.” I looked around at them all, there expressions ranging from sad to confused to thoughtful to angry. “I didn’t want to leave. I just knew I couldn’t come back till I’d learnt to control myself. I’m so sorry for hurting you all.” 

“It’s more than that, isn’t it?” Edward said, looking thoughtful. “You were punishing yourself.”

I clenched my teeth, “So what if I was?” 

“Frankie, what happened was a mistake. You can’t blame yourself ” Carlisle began.

“Then who should I blame?” I shot back, interrupting him. “Look I don’t want to have a moral debate about this. I fucked up, and I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t do something. If some human kills someone accidently there’s still consequences! There is no vampire jail so I made my own.

I am sorry for hurting you, I should’ve contacted you to let you know I was okay. I can’t apologise for leaving though. 

I’m the one who had to find a way to live with what I did.

Actions have to have consequences. Otherwise what’s the point of even trying?” 

“Okay.” Rosalie whispered, “I get it.” 

We sat around the table in quiet though for bit. Eventually my siblings and parents began to fill me in with all that they’d been up to since my departure. 

I felt nothing but overwhelming love from all of them. My family had forgiven me. First for slipping up, committing possibly the worst kind of murder. Then for leaving, for not thinking of them when I decided my punishment. 

There would be no next time though. I knew I would never allow myself to make such a mistake again, and however questionable my methods were, they had worked. My control was better than ever before, and maybe, just maybe, with time my feelings of guilt would lessen too. 

I knew what I had done would always haunt me, if I could sleep, I’m sure I’d dream about it every night. As much as I needed space from my family to improve my control, I knew I’d need them to move past my guilt and self-loathing. 

“We will.” Edward whispered to me. “We’ll all be here for you.” 

I smiled. 

I know.

**Author's Note:**

> So think was an idea I've had for a while so I figured I may as well put it out there. 
> 
> Let me know what you think and maybe I'll write a couple of follow up chapters :)


End file.
